Head buried under the sand for too long. Need help.

awowen10

Hello,

I've posted here before regarding a debt and you guys helped. I was in a better position than I was before I joined and had DD's set up with all my outstanding debts, and then all of a sudden I'm made redundant from my job and then of course to top this off I was told I had to leave my home from my private landlord. They say bad luck comes in twos ey...

So, of course I had to move home and find a new job in the space of 3 months and this crippled me financially and so I had to cancel my direct debits as I physically had no money in the bank so would have been charged had I left them. Did I make any attempt to contact those I had these plans set up with? Of course not, thus the thread title.

So today I had a bailiff call me from Bristow & Sutors who claims because I broke my arrangement they have charged an extra £255.00 on top of my account which takes my new balance owed to £531- more than my original amount. I was a bit taken aback by the phone call so didn't really clock on to what these extra charges were, and my account info via the B&S website has no breakdown, however he said they were mandatory and had to be paid. This is with Chester & Cheshire NW Council by the way in respect to owed council tax money.

He claimed he was sat outside my house and was coming to knock on, to which I asked which address he has down, and he said an address which I'd never even heard of before in Liverpool? I've tried to get in touch with my old housemate to see if maybe this was his old address but I've certainly never lived there before.

Now I'm back in work, but am living off the skin of my teeth until payday which is in 2 weeks time, but even then I won't be able to afford the full £531.00 payment, but the initial amount owed before the bailiffs charge is do-able. I have googled similar situations and a lot of people say bailiffs are ruthless and want the full whack, and that B&S themselves will tell me to deal with the bailiffs, and that CNWC will tell me to deal with B&S, however these results were in 2010 and I wondered if there is absolutely anything I can do to kill some time to get some money together before payday?

This is just with B&S- As I said I cancelled a few other DD's and expect to hear off those companies soon enough as well.

This is the first time in my life I have been genuinely down and sick-ridden with debt, especially as I'm 26 and can't even afford my mum a Christmas present this year- I really, really want to sort my act out and get myself debt-free.

Thanks for any responses,

Andrewboom

Well done for posting.

Just read some of the longer term blogs on this site. You will soon see that the people who contact the companys chasing them, and sort out repayment plans are always far happier and under less stress than before.

They may not be rich or out of debt, but not hiding from the debt is always the biggest step.

longtermplanner

What is this debt with the bailiffs? Council tax / parking fines / CCJ for consumer debt?

What is your total amount of debt and how muh do you think you can repay each month?

awowen10

Thanks Andrew- as I said, I've visited and cried for help before and was put on the straight and narrow but unfortunately some sudden events regarding work and home derailed me immensely.

longtermplanner- debt is with regards to council tax. Total amount is £531.00 but that's with this £255.00 added on which I'm still unsure about and only heard of today. My account on B&S is not breaking it down for me? I think I could pay off around £150-200 as a 1 off payment and then £70-100 a month there after. Now it's been referred to a bailiff will they accept a 'new' payment plan. I suppose I really need to find out what this £255.00 is so I can see if I can contest it?

dancingfairy

See this useful factsheet from National debtline on council tax here: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/02%20EW%20Council%20tax%20recovery/Default.aspx
In the first instance I would write to the bailiffs asking for a breakdown of the fees so far. You will then be able to tell whether they are legitimate or not.
I am unsure if they can charge the £200 + pounds just for turning up if they are not allowed into your property. Perhaps someone else knows this? In the meantime get the letter sent off to query the charges.
df

dancingfairy

See this thread as well here:https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5117610
It seems they can charge £75 but they must give 7 clear days notice.

Also this one, particularly post 12: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5080532
df

awowen10

Thanks for the links. I'll call B&S tomorrow to ask for more information about the bailiffs so I can try and get a breakdown of the costs. In regards to the 7 days notice; I obviously knew by cancelling the direct debit there would be some form of backlash but I had no way to know they would be sending a bailiff as the address they have down for me is completely wrong- it's actually the old address of my former house mate, so I'm not sure how that's ended up on their file?!

dancingfairy

I suggest you start at the begining. Draw up a new budget and work out how much you have spare to go towards your debts each month. Work out which are the most important eg council tax and take it from there.
The bailiffs will have to accept a payment plan. If you haven't got the money, you haven't got the money. Just put your offer in writing to them, DON'T under any cirumstances let them into your house and then set up a standing order for the amount you can afford.
Stay calm, stay in control.
If you need any help setting up payment plans with your creditors then the debt websites such as National debtline, cab or stepchange should have lots of help and advice or you can give one of the a ring.
It may take a while to get back on top of things, but stick with it.
Regards
df

awowen10

So the £200+ call out fee is a mandatory charge even though I had no idea they were visiting as the address they have on file for me is an invalid one? Not wanting to sound like I've still got my head buried here. I was tempted to pull out an overdraft with my bank and pay it off in one just to get them off my back. The overdraft would then be paid back in 31 days time which is do-able.

I will phone and speak with B&S tomorrow to see if they can give me more information regarding the bailiffs, I don't really fancy calling him directly- although he did change his tune with me when I told him to drop his attitude.

Thanks for your help so far.

dancingfairy

I don't know I'm afraid, The changes to the fee structure are fairly recent. From what i've read on the other 2 threads I've linked to, it would appear to be a legitimate fee (although the amount seems slightly odd). You could try calling National Debtline for advice and see what their take on it is.
df

National_Debtline

dancingfairy wrote: »

I am unsure if they can charge the £200 + pounds just for turning up if they are not allowed into your property. Perhaps someone else knows this? In the meantime get the letter sent off to query the charges.
df

Assuming the fee referred to above is the £235 enforcement fee chargeable under the new regulations, this can be added as soon as any visit is carried out, regardless of whether entry is gained or not. The bailiff only needs to begin the enforcement process to be able to legitimately claim this fee.

The fact that they visited an address OP has never lived at is unlikely to affect the legitimacy of the fee - if OP has not provided a valid forwarding address then the bailiffs will have sought to establish their whereabouts and paid a visit where they are thought most likely to reside.

P.S. - I know OP has quoted £255 but I am thinking that this may just have been misheard over the phone, perhaps??

Dennis
@natdebtline